4thWrite Prize Reveals Six-Story Shortlist for Its 10th Year

The shortlist for the 10th year of the 4thWrite prize has been revealed. The award, run by the publisher 4th Estate in association with the Guardian, is a short story competition open to unpublished writers of colour.

Six stories have made this year's shortlist. Judge and author Gurnaik Johal said the shortlisted works were "affecting in new and surprising ways". Johal brings a personal history to the judging panel: he was shortlisted for the prize himself in 2018.

The shortlist, in Johal's description, offers readers "a whole world in a few pages" — a testament to the compressed power of the short story form the prize celebrates.

A decade of the prize

This year marks a milestone for the competition. The 4thWrite prize has now run for ten years, a decade in which it has championed unpublished writers of colour and provided a platform for voices that traditional publishing routes have often failed to reach.

The prize operates as a partnership between 4th Estate, the literary imprint, and the Guardian, which publishes the competition and its results. Its stated condition of entry — that writers must be unpublished and of colour — defines its distinctive position within the crowded field of literary awards.

The judge

Gurnaik Johal occupies an unusual dual position in this year's proceedings. As a writer shortlisted for the prize in 2018, he knows the experience of the competition from the entrant's side. Now, as a judge and author, he reads the submissions with an eye sharpened by that history.

His verdict on the 2018-vintage shortlist he joined was, by definition, a positive one. His verdict on this year's six stories — "affecting in new and surprising ways" — signals that the standard he encountered as a reader this cycle matched or exceeded what drew him to the prize as a young writer.

What happens next

The six shortlisted writers now await the announcement of the overall winner. The shortlist's publication by the Guardian gives readers direct access to the stories and their authors ahead of that decision.

For unpublished writers of colour watching the prize's 10th year, the message of this shortlist is straightforward: the competition that launched Gurnaik Johal's public trajectory — from shortlistee to judge — remains open, active and, in his words, capable of surprise.

The full shortlist and stories can be read on the Guardian's books pages.